A controversial political advertisement in Ohio has intensified internal party anxieties, drawing sharp rebukes from prominent political figures and local editorial boards as fallout continues to widen across the state’s political landscape.
Veteran political strategist Mike Murphy, who served in Sen. John McCain’s inner circle during the 2000 presidential run and led Gov. Jeb Bush’s super PAC in 2016, offered a severe assessment of the situation on social media. Murphy characterized the unfolding political dynamic as increasingly resembling “political suicide.”
The backlash extended to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who previously competed against Vivek Ramaswamy in the presidential primaries and frequently sparred with him during the campaign. Haley delivered an unvarnished evaluation of the candidate, stating plainly, “He’s a bad guy,” and adding, “It’s a shame he continues to get away with it.”
The controversy intensified further when *The Columbus Dispatch* published an editorial endorsement of Acton on Wednesday. The publication strongly condemned the disputed video material, declaring in its endorsement that “It should go without saying that sexual violence against children should not be politicized or taken as lightly as Ramaswamy appears to take it.”
In response to the escalating political friction, Acton’s campaign launched its own 30-second advertisement on Wednesday. The counter-ad challenges Ramaswamy’s decision to inject Acton’s childhood experiences into the campaign, an event dating back half a century.
The new spot features Acton’s brother, Phil Stearns, who addresses the childhood trauma directly in the ad. “I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it,” Stearns says in the commercial. “She continued to receive that abuse because she knew she had to protect me from that, and if she hadn’t done that, who knows where I would have ended up.”
